Tuesday, December 4, 2012

"Two Hours Traffic" - Interview!

I have been sitting on this short
interview for a little while now. I ordered the new single by “Two Hours Traffic” from
their label “Bumstead Records” and somewhere along the way the 45 got lost in
the mail.

This was no fault to “Bumstead”
and they were super eager to make it right by sending another copy ASAP! Great
service! I highly recommend ordering from them to anybody!

I have to give “Bumstead Records”
credit really. This 45 is beautiful! Nice glossy sleeve as well as a heavy
piece of vinyl for a 45! They also packed it in its own poly sleeve which is
always a bonus!

A very short intro of “Two Hours
Traffic”, they are a great band based in Charlottetown, PEI. These guys met at
University on the island and started jamming and recording together. They gave
a copy of their demo to Joel Plaskett which proved to be a great move as he loved it!

Joel has been involved in their
career over the years producing the majority of their albums, with this single
being the first that has not been produced by Joel.

But enough about Joel! These guys
have the talent and ability to pull their own weight in this business and have
been doing a great job of doing just that!

Without further ado, the
following is a short interview with “Two Hours Traffic” singer Liam Corcoran.

Maritime
Vinyl – Aside from your initial demo EP "The April Storm", the
"Siren Spell" EP is the first studio recording that was not produced
by Joel Plaskett. How different is it having a new producer? Can you foresee
working with Joel again on future releases?

Liam - We had gotten used to a certain routine with our last few records and it
seemed like the right time to make a change. We had the new lineup together and
we decided to switch everything else up as well - new studio, new producer, and
for the first time we recorded outside of the Maritimes (in Mono, Ontario). We
sent Darryl Neudorf our demos and he seemed to genuinely like them. Not only
that, but he recognized a lot of our influences and he knew what kind of sound
we were going for. Darryl has a great studio on his property in Mono and we
felt very at home there. It was a pleasure to make the record.

Joel Plaskett is a good friend of ours and he continues to be a kind of mentor
to us. We still go to him for advice on a regular basis. He is an excellent
producer and without his help we probably wouldn't be making music today. I
wouldn't be surprised if we worked with Joel again somewhere down the line. We
simply felt that we had to step outside our comfort zone for this latest
record.

Maritime Vinyl – A lot of "Two Hours Traffic" songs appear on
American and Canadian television shows. How has this method of "getting
your music out there" had an effect on your success?

Liam -
Getting songs on TV shows is a decent way to expose your music to an American
audience. We still haven't done a lot of touring in the US so we've got to take
whatever exposure we can get. As a result of these TV placements, we have sold
a considerable number of singles on iTunes. We would love to follow up on this
by doing some more extensive touring south of the border.

Maritime Vinyl – You included with the "Armour than Amis" 7" a
download card for the remaining songs that are on the EP. I absolutely love
this idea! Do you think people are buying the 7" just for the nostalgia
and using the download cards for the music or do you think many are spinning
the vinyl like myself?

Liam -
Some people are definitely buying the 7" as a keepsake but I know from
talking to people at shows that many of them will be throwing it on the record
player. We just like giving people both formats so you can have the superior
vinyl sound at home but also take the mp3s with you on your iPod.

Maritime Vinyl – How has the 7" with the download card been received? Will
you do this again?

Liam - We have actually been using the download cards for
several years, ever since we put out Little Jabs on vinyl. Our last album
Territory also had a download card included. We really love it when someone
buys one of our records on vinyl so we don't have a problem throwing in the
mp3s as a thank you.